Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/30

 SUGGESTIONS ON BIOGRAPHICAL SPEECHES U her siimers; men stand, and the world may remember them for an age as her saints; men fall and rise again, and the world may remember them forever as her heroes. A colossal type of this heroism is outlined in the character of Jean Val- jean.'' The Problem division of the oration treats of the various influences contributing to the downfall of Valjean which we need not consider here. Then the Solution division treats of his redemption thus: Fmtj through the struggle for self-recovery : * *. . . Mus- ing in the prison or toiling in the chain gang he saw himself a martyr ; but standing between wistful childhood and tranquil age, both wronged by his hand, he sees himself a wretch. . . " Second, through the struggle for self-mastery : * * . . . The self within him is strong. But a persistent voice — the voice of his awakened conscience — bids him lay down his freedom and again receive the shackles of bondage, bids him surrender his official title and reassume the old name of infamy and re- proach. . ." Third, through the influence of suffering: *'. . . His life-long penance reaches its climax in the hour when the mem- ory of Cosette, estranged and gone, rises up to mock him as he sits alone beside the broken shrine where she has been his idol. . ." Thus Mr. Flynn throughout his production enforces the idea of heroism as shown in Valjean's redemption — the uni- versal method of redemption. All the facts of his later life are explained in the analysis of these processes. If the productions be limited say to one 7. Length thousand words, the length of the divisions in- dicated should approximate the following : Introduction ..... 100 words Problem ..... 300 words Solution ..... 500 words Conclusion ..... 100 words In connection with the Style and Diction, the greatest dan- ger to public address is triteness, commonplaceness. Inas- much as the aim is to enforce an important but ofttimes old